Dorian and HitGen Announce Research Collaboration Focused on DNA-Encoded Library Based Drug Discovery

CHENGDU, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Shanghai Stock Exchange listed company HitGen Inc. (“HitGen”) today announced that it has entered into a research collaboration agreement with Dorian Therapeutics, Inc. (“Dorian”), a private biotechnology company developing senoblockers, a new class of therapeutics that can rejuvenate cells and tissues. HitGen will apply its platform technology, based on the design, synthesis and screening of DNA-encoded libraries (DEL) to discover compounds that bind to certain targets that are of interest to Dorian. Under the terms of the agreement, HitGen will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and will be eligible for milestone payments from Dorian.

HitGen is a world leader in the development of the DEL technology and applications to early-stage small molecule drug discovery. The availability of over 1 trillion small molecules generated by the DEL technology and the efficiency of the screening process have made it possible for HitGen to enable drug discovery projects for many organizations around the world.

“We look forward to working with Dorian to identify novel small molecule starting points from DNA-encoded libraries. We will work closely with Dorian scientists to generate new lead compounds for their research programs to address unmet medical needs associated with aging.” said Dr. Jin Li, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of HitGen.

“We are excited to enter this collaboration with HitGen, a world leader in DNA-encoded library technologies. HitGen’s formidable DEL platform that features over 1 trillion small, drug-like molecules has been widely used by leading global pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and we believe that HitGen would be a perfect partner for us in discovering and developing new therapeutics for age-associated diseases,” said Maddalena Adorno, PhD, Dorian’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer.

About Dorian Therapeutics, Inc.

Dorian is the leading company working on senoblockers, a new class of therapeutics that can rejuvenate cells and tissues. Based on a proprietary patented technology, Dorian’s team is bringing to the clinic an innovative solution for age-associated diseases. Founded by two Stanford alumni, the company is backed by leading venture capital firms, including Longevity Capital, Y Combinator, Blumberg Capital and Pacific 8 Ventures. Dorian’s laboratories are located in San Carlos, CA. For more information, visit www.doriantherapeutics.com.

About HitGen Inc.

HitGen Inc. is a rapidly developing biotech company headquartered in Chengdu, China, with subsidiaries in Cambridge, UK and Houston, USA. It became a publicly listed company in Shanghai Stock Exchange in April 2020 (ticker code 688222.SH). HitGen has established a drug discovery research platform for small molecules and nucleic acid drug centered on the design, synthesis and screening of DNA encoded chemical libraries (DELs), fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) and structure-based drug design (SBDD) technologies. HitGen's DELs currently contains more than 1 trillion novel, diverse, drug-like small molecules and macrocyclic compounds. These compounds are members of DELs synthesized from many hundreds of distinct chemical scaffolds, designed with tractable chemistry, and have yielded proven results for the discovery of small molecule leads against precedented and unprecedented classes of biological targets.

Through its acquisition of Cambridge UK based Vernalis R&D Ltd before the end of 2020, a leader in FBDD/SBDD, HitGen now has a research team of over 500 scientists and offers a full set of research capabilities from recombinant protein expression and purification, structural biology, assay development, screening, DEL synthesis, nucleic acid and small molecule chemical synthesis, computational and medicinal chemistry, biochemistry and biophysics, cell biology, in vivo pharmacology, DMPK, CMC, etc., to enable drug discovery research from target gene to IND filing.

HitGen operates a flexible business model, ranging from a single capability-based fee for services (FFS，e.g., protein expression and purification, structural biology, bioinformatics, computational chemistry, medicinal chemistry, nucleic and organic chemistry, analytical chemistry，biophysics, PK, PD, etc.), DEL screening, DEL design, synthesis and characterization, integrated drug discovery projects, risk sharing projects, collaborative ventures to program out-licensing. HitGen has approximately 20 in-house drug discovery programs at different stages of research & development. HitGen is collaborating with pharmaceutical, biotech and chemical companies, foundations and research institutes in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia to enable the discovery and development of novel medicines and agrochemicals.

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